Kushner\u2019s letter to Macron noted that Monday was \u201cthe 81st anniversary of the Allied Liberation of Paris, which ended the deportation of Jews from French soil\u201d under Nazi German occupation.<\/p>\n
\t A city employee cleaning the \u201cWall of the Righteous\u201d (Mur des Justes) after the monument was vandalized in Paris, May 14, 2024. (Antonin Utz\/AFP)<\/p>\n He wrote: \u201cI write out of deep concern over the dramatic rise of antisemitism in France and the lack of sufficient action by your government to confront it\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cIn France, not a day passes without Jews assaulted in the street, synagogues or schools defaced, or Jewish-owned businesses vandalized,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n While \u201cantisemitism has long scarred French life\u201d, the ambassador argued that hatred of Jews \u201chas exploded since Hamas\u2019s barbaric assault on October 7, 2023,\u201d which triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.<\/p>\n The French foreign ministry claimed Kushner\u2019s allegations violated international law and the obligation not to interfere with the internal affairs of another country, and, \u201cThey also fall short of the quality of the transatlantic partnership between France and the United States and of the trust that must prevail between allies.\u201d<\/p>\n The dustup follows Macron\u2019s rejection this past week of accusations from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that France\u2019s intention to recognize a Palestinian state is fueling antisemitism.<\/p>\n Macron\u2019s Elysee office was quick to hit back at Netanyahu, calling the Israeli premier\u2019s allegation \u201cabject\u201d and \u201cerroneous.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron (L), as they hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem on October 24, 2023. (Christophe Ena\/Pool\/AFP)<\/p>\n But like Netanyahu, Kushner denounced Macron\u2019s criticisms of Israel over the war in Gaza and his planned recognition of a State of Palestine. Such moves, he said, \u201cembolden extremists, fuel violence, and endanger Jewish life in France.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn today\u2019s world, anti-Zionism is antisemitism \u2014 plain and simple,\u201d the ambassador added.<\/p>\n \u201cSurveys show most French citizens believe another Holocaust could happen in Europe. Nearly half of French youth report never having heard of the Holocaust at all.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are children being taught in French schools if such ignorance persists?\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n \t A terror suspect (left) caught on a surveillance camera outside the Beth Yaacov synagogue in the French seaside resort of La Grande Motte; flames outside the synagogue (right) on August 24, 2024. (X screenshots, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)<\/p>\n France is home to the largest Jewish population in Western Europe, with an estimated 500,000 Jews. That\u2019s approximately 1% of the national population.<\/p>\n The diplomatic discord over Kushner\u2019s letter came as French-US relations have faced tensions this year amid Trump\u2019s trade war and a split over the future of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon. France in particular has objected to the US push to wind down the peacekeeping operation known as UNIFIL, with a vote on the issue set for the end of the month by the UN Security Council.<\/p>\n France and the US have also been divided on support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, but the split has eased with Trump expressing support for security guarantees and a warm meeting with Macron and other European leaders at the White House last week.<\/p>\n Trump at the end of his first term as president pardoned Charles Kushner, who pleaded guilty years earlier to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations.<\/p>\n His son Jared is a former White House senior adviser to Trump who is married to Trump\u2019s eldest daughter, Ivanka.<\/p>\n
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